A partly depleted national team departs Guyana today for Antigua for their first match of the second round of the WICB Regional Four-Day Championships.
The team is in high hopes that by the conclusion of the tournament they will be returning with some silverware for the Guyana Cricket Board trophy cabinet.
In the meantime, there is still the bitter taste of last year’s woeful performance that saw Guyana finishing at the bottom of the table with 33 points.
However, redemption seems to be on the horizon for the national team following a one-month encampment period from last December until yesterday.
Captain Sewnarine Chattergoon, deputy Assad Fudadin and experienced middle-order batsman Travis Dowlin revealed that during many team discussions, the team’s performance last year was used to goad them into preventing history from repeating itself and they now feel that the team’s prospects of winning are healthy.
“It’s all about putting things together and producing consistent performances as one for the team and that is going to be the key for us. At least two batsmen getting a century per game will give the bowlers something to work with, especially with quite a decent bowling attack with the two spinners (Devendra Bishoo and Veerasammy Permaul) and Esaun Crandon at the helm to hold their own,” Dowlin said.
Chattergoon and Fudadin noted that there was a constant reminder for them to lift their game and hopefully, the rest of the team, especially the younger players, will follow suit. Dowlin, on the other hand, said that he tries not to remember last year’s nauseating events and therefore will be shaking off that burden and starting afresh this year.
Collectively, they believe that the loss of the team’s most experienced players Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan was not the best way to start the tournament but they are confident that the other players in the lineup will step up and fill the gap of the veterans.
The two batsmen have over 29,000 runs between them from 434 matches at the first class level.
“Losing ‘Sars’ and Shiv is a big loss to any team, more so Guyana, their native country. (But) I see this as an opportunity for myself and Narsingh (Deonarine) and other junior members of the team to showcase our talent.
“This is nothing strange for me. I have been given opportunities in the West Indies team and I hope to continue my good form for Guyana and myself,” Dowlin, who played 78 first-class matches, explained.
Dowlin, who has 3,642 runs at the first class level, said that he was confident going into Guyana’s first game against Trinidad & Tobago under lights at the Sir Vivian Richards ground on Friday. He said that he is batting well and he has been working on his technique for the past three months in Australia.
Dowlin explained, “I have been working on my technical deficiencies and I am pretty confident that I can get runs at any level quite consistently. Since I was promoted to opening batsman (in Australia) I had to really sit down and watch my game. My bat is coming down now a bit straighter; my foot movement in terms of playing the ball straighter and getting closer to the ball was some of the things that I worked on and they are paying dividends.”
Chattergoon, who took over as captain after Sarwan was sidelined with a back injury, said that his team was looking to make a “solid start to the tournament.”
He said in a telephone interview that he intends to lead from the front and shoulder all his responsibilities.
Moreover, he said that he has been working tirelessly on his game during net sessions because he intends to have a good tournament with the bat.
Chattergoon, who has scored 3,479 runs from 63 matches, has been going through a rough patch with the bat but signalled his return to form with a well played 95 in the second trial match at the Bourda ground last week.
Chattergoon and Fudadin, who has 1,196 runs from 27 matches with a highest score of 93, feel that the team was the best trained unit Guyana has produced for a long time. Fudadin said that he is feeling fit and ready for the challenges ahead of the tournament and he is sure that the rest of the team is also.
“I am even satisfied with the team spirit; we are a unit and we are going to do well,” Fudadin quipped.
Team: Sewnarine Chattergoon (Captain), Travis Dowlin, Rajendra Chandrika, Narsingh Deonarine, Vishal Singh, Royston Crandon, Derwin Christian, Assad Fudadin (Vice Captain), Veerasammy Permaul, Devindra Bishoo, Esaun Crandon, Brendon Bess and Trevor Benn.
Reserves: Gajanand Singh, Anthony Bramble, Christopher Barnwell, Deon Ferrier, Keon Joseph and Andre Stoll.
Coach: Rabindranauth Seeram and Manager: Carl Moore
